AlienXXX wrote:The dares have peoven to be a bit unpredictable: we had lots on entries for dare 10 folloewd by dare 11 which was a bit of a flop... So far so good for dare 12.

I wanted to upload some of my own samples, but that was impossible since i was away.I might upload tonight, even if it is too late and no one uses them

I dont know what your going to upload, but I would really like it if I could use your samples too.You didnt have time to do it, so maybe we can bend the rules a little???If I had a little more time for the last dare, I would have posted an entrie.I know there need to be rules and a time limit, or there was no "competition" at all.But maybe the time limit rule doesnt need to be so strict??I know some members, including myself, are a little to late sometimes.......

Since this is the first time I have specifically asked for "sound scenes" I will post the review of the first entry right away, hopefully that will serve as a guide or confirmation of what my intention was for this dare and what I would be looking for in your entries.

Review:bohara2000, "Another job well done"When I posted the dare I was expecting entries to be totally sound based (meaning 'noise' as opposed to 'music'. Scenes made up of real-life, daily sounds)This is not a rule as such, it was merely my expectation of what would happen.Then afleetingspec came along and uploaded some 'musical' sounds - his voice and two instruments (guitar and tabla). Surprise!Well, if your musical instruments are objects you touch everyday (or nearly), why not? And certainly you carry your voice with you and us it everyday!So this opened the door for entries to be more musical than I initially expected.bohara200's entry did just that. As far as a sound scene, I think it certainly hits the spot. The use of the singing sample and the onion slicing sample, with it's strong rhythm, make this entry also quite musical. There is even some echo/reverb effect throwin in there - but there is nothing wrong with any of that, especially as it completely fits the 'scene'.

As promised, although I have entered detailed comments against each entry at Soundcloud, a short summary here for completeness.

Cannonrayj - An imensely powerfull piece.There are a few scenes that can be imagined to fit this piece. But the feelings that emanate from it are clear and piercing. A master piece, and has been scored accordingly by all.

Spoorloss - An interesting takeIt is perhaps a bizzarre scene, but the images and feelings that come through are very clear.Spoorloss says he got a bit tired by the end of the piece and cut a few corners. I would not have guessed. I think it sounds great and convincing.

Jgeralyn - A track I identify withThis piece, I think, illustrates perfectly those days where nothing seems to work. Things just seem to break whenever you touch them and the situation just spins further and further out of control. Or those days when your brain just seems to crash and you can't get anything right... It does give me the exact feeling of those days that you seem to waste running around in vain, always ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Great job.

bohara2000 - A good sound sceneTo be honest this is perhapes the one that is closes to what I expected most entries would be.When I listenned to it it painted a very clear scene in my head. (Whether that was the scene the author intended or not, I do not know.) Perhaps, considering this, I should have scored it higher. However, I have adopted my usual scoring method where the main deciding factor is the emotional charge I perceive from each piece as I listen to it.

Escortmarius - Nice idea, but with some flaws (?)Reading Escortmarius replies to my comments at Soundcloud I understand better what happened. And perhaps I did missinterpret some aspects of it.It is a shame that you decided to cut the end out because it did not fit the rules. Maybe we should have discussed this via PM. You see, the problem with that is that, since the sound scene is a story, it got interrupted and cut short. So we end up missing the intended flow and full scope of the piece. I too am very keen to hear the full piece.

afleetingspeck - A difficult decision...This one was the most difficult one to score. It did not meet the intended spirit of the dare. But then again, I did not specify that the objects could not be musical instruments that you touch daily, or nearly daily... so could the entry be a musical piece, if music is a daily part of yuor life?Would this be within the rules? Would it be within what is allowed as 'creative bending' of the rules?Believe you me... I did pounder this long and hard!In the end I decided that I had made it clear enough, it is even written on the rules: 'are not looking for musical entries', or similar words to that effect.So, regretfully, because this is such a great piece with a great feel... I had to give it last place. - Anything else would not have been fair on the other entries.Now, if I scoring the piece on its own merits (rather than as part of this dare) the situation would be totally different So, bad score, but GREAT PIECE.

That's all for now.Should have the final score results added up and posted over the long weekend - monday is a holiday in the UK

ok so here are my criticisms, on the dare entries: S.M.A.R.T. Jgeralyn: this song had a very nice complexity to it, without trying to hard, i like that this was focused on a mindset, rather than a specific point in time, also the build up in the song, and the change in time, and frequency towards the end, followed by sample of the door being shut, made me think of a door of opportunity being shut, as if the stress of everything got to me, and i failed. the piece definitely worked towards this broken distorted mindset, and the work shows!

second w/ 4pt. Escortmarius: this soundscape more than any of the others, i was able to create a visual in my mind to accompany it. it was straightforward with use of the sounds, and olso there was a good flow, or structure, the abrupt ending was also nice a cliffhanger is ok, resolve is something we seek, but don't need. however i do wish that the song left me wondering, or that i was able to picture something, it just was done.

third w/ 3pt. afleetingspeck: this peice was really fun, everyone else (W/ the exception of bohara), focused in on more negative energy, or something more intense, rather than something more light hearted, such as this track. the build up was incredible, but it was a little musical to really fit the bill for me, however the noise aspects were really amazing, and when listened to loud enough the cacophony was immensely my favorite part of the soundscene.

fourth w/ 2pt. bohara: monks singing in a group shower house, that is what this song made me picture. this fell short for me, as in the short amount of time nothing really happened, things just seemed to fade in and then out. im glad that the scene was kept short, if it was stretched out the be a longer track, it would have been regrettable, howwever i did like the fading in and the decaying out, it was strangely reminiscent of that strange feeling when you are in stage one sleep cycle, and reality, and subconscious blur just a bit, and then you wake up, and it disappears.

fifth w/ 1pt spoorloss: i agree with the description sporloss posted, with more work with EQ, and other effects this could have been better, the singing and screaming were on two different frequencies that didn't ever really come together for me. i did appreciate the subtle uses of drone, and the overall doom atmosphere.

i really liked this dare, and i liked to see some of the different sides of everyone!

AlienXXX wrote:afleetingspeck - A difficult decision...This one was the most difficult one to score. It did not meet the intended spirit of the dare. But then again, I did not specify that the objects could not be musical instruments that you touch daily, or nearly daily... so could the entry be a musical piece, if music is a daily part of yuor life?Would this be within the rules? Would it be within what is allowed as 'creative bending' of the rules?Believe you me... I did pounder this long and hard!In the end I decided that I had made it clear enough, it is even written on the rules: 'are not looking for musical entries', or similar words to that effect.So, regretfully, because this is such a great piece with a great feel... I had to give it last place. - Anything else would not have been fair on the other entries.Now, if I scoring the piece on its own merits (rather than as part of this dare) the situation would be totally different So, bad score, but GREAT PIECE.

That's all for now.Should have the final score results added up and posted over the long weekend - monday is a holiday in the UK

I am sorry to say so, but I dont agree.afleetingspecks piece really took me to the dance studio, like I was there myself!Music is around us all the time, in the supermarket/bus/street/church/whatever everywere is music.In my piece there isnt any rithme like music(I think), but in a real factory its always there!It would have been nice if there was some kind of story in this piece, but to me its really a soundscape!AND, the sound of someone singing is not music(doesnt sound like nice music though) and someone dancing is music???Sorry, I just cannot agree.....

As I say, it was not an easy decision. And I think the ambience of the piece is really great: it really feels like you are in a room listening to musicians performing.

The point of this dare (or my intention) when I put it up, was for people to create specifically non-musical entries. Maybe I did not make that clear enough, and in that case, it is my fault.

There are two reasons why this dare was non-musical.1) Because all previous dares were musical, so it was a chance to do something different.2) I was concerned that klankbeeld was the only one doing soundscenes and, most likely because of that, he was getting low scores (from me included) as everyone seemed to prefer the musical entries.

To be honest, reason 2 was the main reason, in this case.I am not saying we should give high scores to klankbeeld's work - voting and comments are entirely up to each of you.BUT if we tried it ourselves, we would at least understand it better. And, as we could all see (myself included, although I did not even submit a piece), it is much harder than it looks/sounds !

As I take this view (and, please note I am perhaps the only one who knew what I intended to do with the dare...), that drove me to vote as I did. I still emphasized that it is an absolutely great piece. Technically, it is most likely the best piece that entered the dare.